The robes…the set…the music. Looks like Ddaeng was a foreshadowing for the stylization and sound of IDOL. Yoongi and Namjoon have mentioned their desire to incorporate traditional Asian instruments in their music, like they’d done for Dead Leaves. Now they’re finally doing it in the title track for their comeback!
Besides dancing, I tend to worry a lot about vocals. Because I still think I lack a lot when it comes to vocals, I want to work hard enough to where I’m satisfied with myself and let you hear better music.
I admit I’m at the bottom of the pecking order. I think it happened after maknae Jungkook threw me. There’s a nickname [that I have] called ‘Jungkook Mom’ but I think I’ve now become ‘Jungkook’s Toy.’ (Laughs) I can’t defy [him] anyway but since I don’t dislike that kind of joke, there’s nothing I can do about it.
Hi ! Long time no see. It’s been 500 years since I posted my
last theory. I’m coming back today with this brand new one. By
gathering all the information we were given I realized the BU isn’t
that complicated and stuff start to make sense when you understand
each of their characters and put everything in chronological order. So hold on to your wigs my dears.
This post will be divided in 3 parts :
Members profile
Hyyh notes (summary) and videos in chronological order
This
is the story of 7 boys with different coping mechanisms. This is a
story about how friendship grows over time. This is a story about the
long path leading to self love.
I. MEMBERS
PROFILE
Jungkook
Age: 17 (the youngest)
Family : – Mother /
Alive
– Step-father / Alive
– Step-brother / Alive
– Not really close with family.
– Runs away often.
Use to get bullied by
step-brother. « […] my stepfather clearing his throat. My
stepbrother continuously kicking me while laughing. My stepfather’s
relatives would look elsewhere or talk about meaningless things. As
if I didn’t exist, as if I was nothing. In front of them, my mother
stood helplessly. »
Strengths : Strong
composure ; in touch with his feelings and values ; true to
himself ; brave ; attentive ; empathetic ;
idealist.
Weaknesses: Habit of keeping his
emotions for himself and depreciating his own struggles ;
Stubborn ; Tendency of isolating himself in hard times ;
Sensitive ; Trouble expressing feelings.
Fears: Losing the ones he
loves ; Going back to the time when he didn’t know his hyungs.
His place in the group dynamic.
– « the 15 year old me who had nothing » (cf. Begin). His
hyungs taught him what his parents failed to pass on. They’re his
second family. He’s the youngest and is being treated as such. He’s
always there when his hyungs need him.
– Is closer with Yoongi because of
their shared passion for music.
Interests : Music;
drawing.
Analysis: Jungkook has
trouble accepting the fact that the hyungs whom he looks up to so
much are becoming very unstable. The feeling of « home »
his hyungs gave him is compromised. He doesn’t react well to that. In
the notes he talks about having a nightmare « Yoongi hyung was
standing on the bed. Flames shooting up from the edge of the sheet.
In that moment my whole body became entangled in rage and fear that I
couldn’t hold back. I wasn’t someone who spoke well. I was slow to
express my feeling or to convince anyone else. Tears welled up and I
coughed and words would not come out. As I ran into those flames the
only words I could manage to spit out were, « We
promised to go to the beach together. »*
He starts to adopt
an attention seeking behavior. We might not have realized
that, but Jungkook emphasized several times how for a big part of his
life he was considered basically invisible (ex : his family
ignoring him while his stepbrother was beating him). When he met the
others, for the first time in his life he felt like he mattered. He
was suddenly loved and important. Taking that away from him triggered buried emotions which he didn’t know how to deal with.
« I finally
fulfilled my wish. When I saw the hooligans on the street, I bumped
into them and got a beating. As
they beat me, I laughed. […] I felt the tears coming and
purposefully let myself cry »
The boy who rarely
shows his emotions purposefully let himself cry out loud. He stands
on top of buildings rising his hands like he’s gonna jump. He shakes
his hyung’s shoulders as a cry for help. He gets himself beat up. He walks nonchalantly near the road… Would it really matter if a car comes too
fast ?
« [ …]
holding out both of my hands for balance […] That gave me an idea
that I could die if I just took one more step. […] No one
would be sad if I was not around anyway »
Jungkook is crying
for help in his own way. He wants to help his hyungs more than
anybody. He wants to save the ones who saved him.
Weaknesses :
Impulsive ; Has difficulty focusing ; Poor practical
skills ; Highly emotional ; Overthink things ; Can’t
stand being restrained by rules or higher authorities.
Fears :
His father ; Becoming like his father. « in my body Dad’s
blood flows. Is there violence in me too? There is something that
wants to burst out of my tightly prepared self-defense net. »
His place in
the group dynamic : Taehyung doesn’t mind being a follower,
he doesn’t need to ask that many questions, he has infinite trust
towards his hyungs and if one of them jumped from a window and
shouted from the ground to do the same with no reasons he would do
it. He catches on things quickly, if one of them was hiding something
he would notice it even though he won’t say anything. He’s more on
the extroverted side, he’s always down for new challenges and
adventures that can involve going out of his comfort zone.
He looks up to
Namjoon a lot, maybe because Namjoon seem to be more free-spirited,
open-minded and confident about his thoughts.
Interests :
Although being full of ideas and creativity, doesn’t have any
apparent hobby. Enjoys hanging out and playing with his friends the
most.
Analysis: Taehyung is the
kind of person who enjoys people’s company and different stories. He
couldn’t count on his father for being the company he needed. All the
advice and support he should’ve received from his father, he received
from his hyungs which built this unique admiration towards them. He’s
stuck between wanting to make his hyungs proud and the need to
evacuate his overflowing unexpressed frustration by acting up
(vandalism etc…). By not respecting the law, he proves that no one
can put chains around him, not even the police. He’s seeking for the
freedom his father took away from him.
Weaknesses :
Too sensitive ; Low self-esteem ; Perfectionist ;
Struggles to make tough decisions.
Fears :
Letting people down
His place in
the group dynamic : He gets along with everyone, not the
type who would bring trouble to the group. He acts fine in order to
up the mood of his friends, doesn’t want them to worry.
Interests :
Dance
Analysis : Jimin suffers from
post traumatic disorder since an event that happened in an arboretum
when he was a kid. (from Yoongi’s notes) «I had been walking along
with my head down […] When I almost collided with someone, I lifted
my head. Jimin was standing there as if frozen in place. The muscles
in his face trembled as if had seen something terrifying. He was
staring at a sign that said « Flowering Arboretum, 2.2km »
He often goes to
the hospital to treat his illness because he sometimes get seizures.
We don’t exactly know what happened there but he briefly talked about
in his notes. He was apparently on a school trip and decided to
disobey the teacher and wander in the arboretum on his own. He got
lost and it started raining. He was extremely scared. When Jimin
talks about this experience, he refers it as him acting selfish.
Probably meaning he got everyone worried because of his own selfish
and immature behavior. He walked until he came across a storage
space. We don’t know what happened next.
After being
treated at the hospital for the umpteenth time he chose to lie to his
doctor by saying he didn’t remember what happened at the arboretum.
He was tired of fighting.
However two years
later, he decided to face his fears by finally going to the
arboretum. « I had to stop living in hiding in the hospital and
stop having seizures. If I wanted to do that, I had to go to that
place. » He goes to the bus stop every day but can’t seem to
ride the bus because he doesn’t have enough courage. Until one
day Yoongi appears and Jimin, on an impulse, asks him if he wants to
come with him. We don’t know what happened after that.
His ptsd is
expressed through the symbolism of water (he was lost in the rain)
in the hyyh videos. When will Jimin finally overcome his trauma ?
What really happened in the arboretum ? Those are some of the
questions we’re left with, with no answers.
Hoseok
Age :
20
Family :
– Mother / Unknown
– Father(?) /
Unknown
– Orphan since he
was 7 (Mother abandoned him in an amusement park)
Strengths :
Strong sense of duty ; loyal ; warm ; good at
connecting with others.
Weaknesses :
Too critical on himself ; too selfless sometimes ; places
importance on what is socially acceptable (very cautious).
Fears :
Fear of abandonment.
His place in
the group dynamic : He’s the tension reliever. He doesn’t
miss any opportunity to have fun with his friends, he’s also very
loyal and always there for them. Considers Jimin like his little
brother since the day they met. He has a soft spot for him and feels
like he has to take care of him since he learned about his illness.
(Jimin’s notes) « It takes 2 hours walking from school to
home. […]just after the start of the new semester. Hyung approached
me and stayed with me for 2 hours. In regards to the fact that our
homes are not even in the same direction, I only found out a long
time later. »
Interests :
Dance
Analysis :
Hoseok is a pretty bright person, and his main issues come from the
fact that he was abandoned as a child by his own mother. His critical
self has trouble accepting that hole he has in his heart, he doesn’t
know how to deal with negative emotions well. So he takes meds,
thinking it will fix the sadness like it fixes a cold. Even though it
doesn’t, he still takes them just to put his mind at ease. « I
take pills I don’t even need and faint no matter the location. »
(cf. Hoseok notes). He’d rather overdose on pills and faint than go
through sad emotions. He tries to find joy in every little moments.
This is his coping mechanism. Fakingit until he cant
feel sadness anymore. « even if I hate it I smile, and even
when I’m sad I smile. »
Weaknesses :
His self-awareness can become the element that triggers a spiral of
negative thoughts ; he isolates himself when he feels
misunderstood ; habit of blaming himself
Fears :
Growing up ; hurting people
His place in
the group dynamic : Although there’s something very pure
about him, Namjoon has a very mature way of thinking compared to his
peers. This is why the others come to him when they need advice or
someone responsible.
Interests :
Reading
Analysis : Namjoon has a
sensitive soul and is full of different opinions about the world. He
sees the corruptness, dishonesty and hollowness in adults and doesn’t
want to become like them. It doesn’t mean he wants to behave like a
kid either. Namjoon is idealistic and dreams about a world where his
expectations wouldn’t fall short unlike reality. In real life Namjoon
is poor (mentioned it several times in the notes), his father is
sick, his sibling often runs away from home and he lives in a
container. He had to act like a grown up too soon and he hates that.
His solitary self rebels by cutting all ties with the outside world
and staying off the grid. The problem with that is that his friends
might feel lonely in times when they need him the most, specially
Taehyung…
Yoongi
Age :
21
Family :
– Father / Alive
– Mother / Dead
(passed away in a fire)
– Also implicitly
mentions domestic abuse
Strengths: Independent, Hard-working, Determined, Confident (doesn’t doubt his
ideas and thoughts)
Weaknesses:
Despises highly
structured environments (following rules blindly, social
conventions…) ; Is clueless
about human relationships ; too careless sometimes
Fears:
Losing someone (death) ; Himself
His place in the group dynamic :
He seem to genuinely care for his friends and wants to help them
(like helping Jungkook with music) but he ’s more of an independent type of guy and likes to solve his own problems alone and
do everything his way. It’d be great if he could listen to his peers
more sometimes…
Interest :
Music (he composes songs)
Analysis :
Yoongi’s house burned down when he was 15, his mother was in the
house and died. Their piano burned down too. Yoongi refers to that
piano « that will never make a sound again »
several times, we also see it in numerous videos. I think it
represents his love for music that died the same day his mom did. It
looks like his father isn’t really supportive of him pursuing an
artistic career. However Yoongi mentioned in his notes that his
mother used to play the piano. So in my opinion, his mother was the
only one encouraging him, cheering for him and hoping he’ll succeed
with his music. After she passed away, Yoongi probably gave up and
lost his passion. Now this is where I think Jungkook played an
important role. It is very possible that Jungkook’s love for music
may have ignited that passion back in Yoongi and made him start
playing piano again. (more details in the notes summary)
Seokjin
Age :
22
Family :
– Father / Alive
– Mother /
Unknown
– Siblings /
Unknown
his
family seem to be somewhat wealthy (they can afford traveling and
sending Jin overseas to study)
Strengths :
Great analyst, imaginative, enthusiastic, objective, straight-forward.
Weaknesses :
Very private, absent-minded, condescending
Fears :
Living with regret for the rest of his life
His place in the group dynamic :
The older brother. They all became very close overtime which
surprised Jin who never experienced a friendship like this. He was
pretty lonely most of his life and he suddenly had 6 younger brothers
who he deeply cared about. He’s the one who drives them around and
sometimes pay for their meals.
Interests :
Photography ; filmography
Analysis :
When Jin first arrived in the school and didn’t know anyone, he had
an interesting conversation with the principal that sounded to this
day still very mysterious to me. Some of the principal’s words were «
School in general is a dangerous place, we need order and control.
Don’t you think so as well ? ». « I trust that
you’ll do well » he says to a very nervous Jin who was looking
down at the principal’s shoes. Jin’s father standing behind him also
spoke to the principal « I am leaving him in your hands ».
Now if you think about what you just read and couple that with the
red bullet vcr (which is surprisingly pretty canon to the hyyh notes)
you’ll noticed that something suspicious is going on here. In the vcr
Jin is wearing an earpiece, listening to what the principal is
saying. The earpiece also appears in the red bullet concert poster
and the short film Awake. It’s a recurrent object linked to Jin’s
character. So my crazy theory is… That Jin is the principal’s spy.
Ok maybe « spy » isn’t exactly the correct word but
something shady is going between Jin’s father and the principal and
I’m pretty sure corruptness is involved. So Jin, after arriving at
this new school, follows the footsteps of his father (we’ll learn
later that his father was in the same school and also sacrificed his
friends for what exactly ? We don’t know yet) and becomes this
« spy » that will denounce every student (or maybe just a
particular group of student… ) who don’t follow the rules. Of
course as he becomes close with the « delinquents » he
learns true friendship and what it’s like to be free and careless and
as a result regrets his acts (he betrayed them a few times) and
starts to dislike himself for being this corrupted person.
II. HYYH NOTES AND VIDEOS IN
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
Each
year represent Seokjin’s age.
YEAR 10
23 July 10
Hoseok – His
mother brings him to an amusement park, tells him to close his eyes
and count to 10. When he opens his eyes she’s not there anymore. She
abandoned him. Hoseok becomes traumatized every time someone asks him
to count, he can’t count passed 9. His ptsd (post-traumatic disorder)
starts to show itself in the form of narcolepsy. He collapses every time he thinks about his mother.
29 December 10
Taehyung
– He finds his father in the living room, he can’t remember when he
last saw him so he runs to his embrace, but his father who reeked of
alcohol curses at him and slaps him. He hits him several times and
throws him against the wall. « Although his bloodshot eyes were
scary, I couldn’t cry because I was too scared. That was not my dad.
No, he was, but it didn’t feel like him. »
YEAR 11
6 April 11
Jimin
– gets
lost in the arboretum. Start of his trauma.
YEAR 16
Yoongi
– House burns down with his mother still inside. She passes away
that day.
YEAR 19
2 March 19
Seokjin – Comes back from the US and transfers to a new
school. Has a mysterious conversation with the principal and his
father.
12 June 19
Yoongi – They
all ditch school and don’t know where to go. Namjoon suggests the
beach since it’s a hot day. They all agree excitedly and decide to
walk there since they don’t have enough money to take the bus. They
seem to be having a good time, they joke around a lot. Yoongi notices
Jimin who suddenly stops with a terrified look on his face at a sign
that says «Flowering Arboretum, 2.2 km ».
30 August 19
Jimin
– He thinks about how he has transferred schools so many times and
how he’s frequently admitted to the hospital. He feels lucky he found
someone like Hoseok who was super nice to him since the beginning
when he didn’t know anybody at their school. Hoseok always stayed
with him after school and they’d have fun. Jimin is scared because he
wonders how long those good days will last.
YEAR 20
20
March 20
Taehyung
– Catches Seokjin talking on the phone with the principal. Seokjin
tells the principal everything Taehyung and Yoongi did the last few
days (skipping class, climbing over walls and fighting other kids).
Taehyung can’t believe what he’s hearing. He’s shocked and confused,
but thinks that Seokjin must have had a good reason. « Because
hyung knew more than me, and was smarter and older ». He tries
to forget it and acts like nothing happened. « I went into the
classroom smiling foolishly […] I wouldn’t tell anyone else that I
had overheard that conversation ».
15
May 20
Namjoon
– he’s moving away in two weeks. Goes to their warehouse classroom
that they claimed as their secret base one last time. He doesn’t know
if he’ll ever get the chance to come back. He doodles the words « You
must survive » unconsciously on a piece of paper and then folds
it into a ball and puts it in his pocket. Before leaving he fogs up
the window with his breath and writes « We will meet again »
hoping it’s a promise between them.
25
June 20
Yoongi
– Yoongi keeps a half-burned piano key he found in the ruins of his
mother’s room after the fire. He hasn’t been to school for 10 days.
He can’t stand living in his house with his dad anymore. The house is
silent all the time « to the point it becomes suffocating ».
He hates living under his father’s rules and predetermined
time-table. He hates depending on him financially and always having
to listen to his scoldings.
Jungkook
– Two weeks ago, when the teacher discovered their secret
classroom, there were only Jungkook and Yoongi there. Jungkook, who
had skipped class again, was listening to Yoongi play the piano.
Jungkook was so amazed by Yoongi playing the piano that he started
having tears in his eyes. Suddenly, the door of the class violently
opened and next thing he knew he was on the ground after being
slapped very hard by his teacher. When he turned around his saw
Yoongi sheltering him with his body and pushing the teacher back.
Today
Jungkook is alone in the classroom, he just learned the news that
Yoongi got expelled. He’s sad and wonders if he got expelled because
of him. « If it wasn’t for me, hyung wouldn’t have hit the
teacher. If it wasn’t for me, hyung would still be here playing the
piano. »
12
July 20
Jin
– it’s the start of the summer vacation. Jin is leaving the school.
He feels guilty about telling the principal about the storage
classroom. He didn’t know Jungkook and Yoongi would be in here at
that time. No one knows he was the complicit. « As I passed the
school gate, I thought of the first day I had come to this school. We
had all been punished for tardiness together. We could laugh because
of it. I had ruined these moments » .
15
September 20
Hoseok – Jimin’s mother and Hoseok are
in the emergency room after Jimin had a seizure at the bus stop.
Jimin’s mother is extremely worried and she keeps on checking if
everything is well in the room. Hoseok is impressed and intimidated
by Jimin’s mom even though she seemed very warm. She keeps thanking
Hoseok, but she obviously can only think about her son right now. «
I suddenly felt an invisible line being drawn between Jimin’s mother
and myself. That line was sure and solid […] It was a line that I
could never surmount. » He thinks about how he lived in an orphanage for 10 years and how he’ll never feel that motherly love.
28
September 20
Jimin
– He’s still in the hospital. He stopped counting the days. He lost
hope and gave up on the idea of getting out. He’s medicated and
according to him it makes everything dull and boring. Today is the
day he told his first lie. He told the doctor that he didn’t remember
a thing (about what happened in the arboretum probably). This is the
beginning of his new « coping » mechanism = lying.
30
September 20
Jungkook
– He stills goes to their secret classroom alone even though his
hyungs don’t go there anymore. « I suddenly realized :
those days were gone and they would never return. » Him going
back to that room even though the hyungs don’t symbolizes how he’s
the most dedicated in terms of working hard to maintain their
friendship. Jungkook’s « coping » mechanism is his
hyungs and this is why they
mean so much to him and he wants to spend time with them. It’s a
healthier coping mechanism (seeking for mutual support ) compared to
his hyungs.
YEAR 21
25
February 21
Hoseok
– He’s practicing a dance in a studio. He feels the best when he’s
dancing. He looks at himself in the mirror, he wants to grasp that
moment and take the most of it « because it’s a time where I
can be myself ». He doesn’t feel the need to wear a « mask »
when he dances.
A
year passes by without any news.
17
December 21
Namjoon
– He
takes the bus to go back to the school he left a year ago. He’s tired
of the same boring routine and wants to run away from poverty. His
father is still pretty ill.
YEAR 22
7 April 22
Yoongi is
drunk and wandering down the streets at night when he suddenly hears
the sound of a piano. The melody is familiar and he knows oh so well
where that sound comes from. He runs towards the music store. He sees
through the window someone sitting in front of the piano, crying,
their hands curled into fists. Although many years had passed Yoongi
recognized Jungkook at once. He doesn’t want to comfort him because
he’s not confident he can protect him so he’d rather not intervene.
He doesn’t want to hurt him. But before he can leave he hears
« Hyung ». They’re both seeing each other for the first
time since Yoongi quit high school.
11
April 22
Seokjin
– He goes alone to the beach they used to go 2 years ago. He
remembers all the good times. Those times are shown in the Prologue
video. (The first part where Taehyung is covered in blood happened
way after the rest of the video when they all hang out at the beach)
« Although we […] had nothing and had no idea of what the
future held, at least we were together ».
While
driving, he decides at the last minute to go to the gas station to
see Namjoon. He decides he’s going to fight for their friendship.
Same
day
Jungkook
– I NEED U scene where he gets beat up by the thugs (on purpose :
« I finally fulfilled my wish »)
2
May 22
Jungkook
– He has a nightmare where he’s in front of Namjoon’s container.
When he opens the door Yoongi is standing in the middle of flames. He
suddenly feels rage and fear. He tries to save him and shouts « We
promised to go to the beach together. »
Namjoon
wakes him and asks him if he was having a bad dream. Jungkook feels a
sense of relief when he sees Namjoon.
19
May 22
Jimin
– He’s out of the hospital. Decides he wants to face his fears so
he plan on going to the Flowering Arboretum. He lets three buses pass
by at the bus stop because he has trouble gathering the courage to
go. Yoongi comes and sit next to him. He does some small talk until
another bus comes by and Jimin asks him to come with him.
20
May 22
Taehyung
breaks down and almost kills his father. « Instead of stabbing
my father I had hit the floor with the alcohol bottle. The bottle had
shattered and cut my hand »*. He couldn’t take it anymore. The
whole thing is like a blur to him, he didn’t even notice his father
leaving the room. But Taehyung is here in the room with a bandage on
his hand and Hoseok is standing besides him wordlessly. « In my
heart I killed him so many times I can’t even begin to count them. I
want to kill him. […] I don’t know what to do »* Taehyung
stares down at Namjoon’s phone number. He really wants to see him
right now.
Hoseok
goes to the police station with Taehyung for emotional support. He
feels bad for him because he knows how much Taehyung has suffered.
22
May 22
Namjoon
is walking down the beach alone while talking on the phone. « we’re
only a year apart. No, apparently someone said so. I’m his hyung. I
know. But he can’t be a young kid forever. Isn’t time that he deal
with it alone ? Got it. I get it. No I’m not getting mad. I’m
sorry. »*
Taehyung
sees Namjoon and hides himself so he won’t see him. He overhears his
phone conversation and gets very angry. He wants to hit him but
contains himself. He’s scared to become like his father. I’m still
not sure to why Taehyung got so angry at what Namjoon said but I
assume Namjoon was talking about Taehyung in his phone call and
instead of being a friend Namjoon is basically saying that he’s fed
up of being the responsible one every time and cleaning up his mess so
he’d would rather let Taehyung deal with his issues so he would maybe
learn to think more before acting so carelessly.
The
same day (or night)
Jungkook
describes like a weird dream where he sees the moon and he hears
someone telling him « Living is more painful then dying. Do you
still want to live? ». He also mentions how he can’t open his
eyes and how his body feels heavy and seems to float at the same
time. It feels like he’s losing consciousness.
25
May 22
Yoongi
– Highlight Reel scene when he’s playing piano with the girl and she
takes his cigarette. Maybe seeing Jungkook again made him want to
restart playing music.
31
May 22
Highlight Reel
scene where Jimin is filming Hoseok dancing.
Hoseok
– He’s in the practice room with his friend. He’d known her for 10
years and they learned dancing together. While they’re playing around
he suddenly starts having a panic attack because he started thinking
about his mother again.
5
June 22
Namjoon
– Highlight Reel scene where he meets the girl handing flyers on
the bridge.
8
June 22
Yoongi–
He was thinking about how the girl took his lighter when he suddenly
receives a text message that makes him smile. « I didn’t know
what was so great, but the me wearing a tight red colored t-shirt
that had the word « Dream » on it was smiling like a
fool ». I think he received a text from the girl, and maybe she
was talking about something related to music, like a song he
composed ?
13
June 22
Jin
is remembering the last time they all went to the sea together. That
night he had a fight with Taehyung (he probably confronted him about
everything he’s heard and wanted to know the reason behind his
betrayal). Jin punched Taehyung (BST Japanese ver. Scene) and
Taehyung ran out. While Jin is remembering that he wonders when he’ll
have the courage to face himself entirely and smile together with his
friends like the photo of them at the sea he’s keeping.
[
Some people think Euphoria is another timeline where Jin fixed
everything but I don’t think so. First of all Taehyung still has his
bandage on his hand so the thing with his father still happened. I
think this is just Seokjin imagining the best outcome, what would
happen if they’ll finally reunite and be happy together like before.]
He
suddenly receives a message from Hoseok that says Jungkook got into a
car accident the other night. « The other night »
probably meaning May 22nd
when Jungkook notes were weird and talked about losing consciousness
and having hallucinations.
Coincidentally
enough, an image of Jungkook getting hit by a car flashes on the
screen just before the Euphoria video ends.
Yoongi
immediately runs to the hospital after hearing the news but when he
sees Jungkook « lying down with corpses like patients passing
by » he can’t even enter the room, he can’t even look at
Jungkook. This is triggering him and he feels like a voice inside his
head is telling him that it’s his fault. He’s drunk and pushes away
the girl who grabs his arm. He needs to be alone. He doesn’t want to
hurt anyone.
Yoongi
is traumatized by what happened to his mother and is afraid the same
thing will happen to Jungkook. This moment is well expressed in the
First Love short film where a car crashes into the music shop and
burns the piano. Jungkook’s car accident triggers his memory of the
burning piano ( = his mom passing away).
14
June 22
Jungkook
– Highlight Reel scene where he’s in a wheelchair and meets the
girl in the hospital hallway.
18
June 22
Taehyung
– Highlight Reel scene where he catches the girl trying to steal in
the convenience store and buys her the stuff she wanted to steal.
25
June 22
Taehyung
– They meet in the convenience store for the third time, this time
she follows him when he gets out which makes Taehyung laughs because
she’s trying to be discreet but she’s not at all. They interact for
the first time.
30
June 22
Namjoon
is in an elevator and the girl he met on the bridge suddenly enters.
He notices that her hair is tied with a yellow rubber band. This
might have reminded him of his poverty. I think he also sees
something pure about this girl. He’s seeing innocence, which is
something he missed a lot. This is why he’s so intrigued by her and
wants to know her more but doesn’t have the courage to interact with
her.
3
July 22
Jimin
is practicing really hard at the dance studio. He wants to impress
Hoseok but he feels like he’s nowhere near his level which frustrates
him. He just wants to be recognized as a serious equal partner that
can match Hoseok so he’s being really hard on himself.
4
July 22
Jimin
– While he was dancing with « noona from the dance club »,
he made a wrong movement and they both collided. Jimin injured
himself. He’s in the bathroom trying to clean the blood on his arm
while shaking. He thinks about the Arboretum thing and realized he
hasn’t overcome it at all. After coming back to his senses he
remembers his noona fell too. He runs after them under the rain with
an umbrella but realizes it was useless because it’s too late. He’s
completely disappointed in himself and thinks the only thing he’s
good at is leaving people behind and trembling at his own pain only.
Same
day
Hoseok
takes care of the girl and brings her to the hospital. While she’s
receiving aid he notices an airplane ticket in her bag. He realizes
she got the audition she took for an overseas dance team. He acts
like he didn’t see anything because he doesn’t have the courage to
congratulate her. He feels broken inside. It feels like it’s all
happening over again. She’s going to left him just like his mother
did.
(From
now on, each of their stories will follow the same pattern. The girls
they met are going to leave them one by one.)
11
July 22
Seokjin
– Highlight Reel scene where the girl drops her journal and he
picks it up.
13
July 22
Namjoon
– notices the girl with the yellow rubber band on the bus sitting
in front of him, she’s sleeping. He thinks about how they rode the
same bus and went to the same library for 3 weeks. He finally decides
he’s not going to try anything. He leaves a hair band on top of her
bag and exits the bus. « That was not a beginning nor an end.
It was nothing to start with and there was no reason for it to be
anything. So I thought it really didn’t matter ».
16 July 22
Jungkook
is still in the hospital. He’s singing a song to himself. The song’s
lyrics and melody make him feel emotional.
17
July 22
Taehyung
got super close with the convenience store girl within a month. They
hung out often and shared a lot of good memories together. But today
she’s nowhere to be found. She drew a big « X » on all
the graffitis they made together. It was like she drew an X on all of
their memories. Taehyung is angry. He doesn’t know why she did that.
« Why ? Of course there were no response. I kept walking.
We were alone again. Me and her. »
26
July 22
Jungkook
is healed. Highlight reel scene where he runs to give flowers to the
girl but no one is in her room.
3
August 22
Seokjin
– All seven of them go back to their old secret classroom together.
They accidentally find Seokjin’s father’s journal (well hidden). But he
only wrote bad moments up until a point where he just completely
stopped writing about his friends. His last page is covered in dark
ink and it bled onto the next pages. Seokjin thinks it’s like it was
predicting his father’s failures. It seems like it represents the
beginning of him choosing corruption over his friends.
There
are hidden letters behind the ink stains. Seokjin reads them (but
doesn’t tell us what they are). He’s happy they got to go to the
classroom because he thinks this is destiny and he had to find this
notebook for a reason. He had to realize his mistakes and not
reproduce what his father did, and also « find a map to his
soul ». Which I think means forgive himself and learn to love
himself.
15
August 22
Seokjin
– He finally finds a flower shop that sells smeraldos. He visited
other shops but none of them did. He orders them for delivery because
they haven’t officially opened yet. The only reason he needs this
specific flower is because he wants to make her happy. And he knows
she loves this flower in particular.
30
August 22
Seokjin
– He gets ready for his date. When he finally arrives at their
spot, he witnesses her getting hit by a car.
———————————-
OKAY.
So
now that we went over everything in chronological order (I can’t
believe it took 12 pages), it is now T time my children. And no, T
doesn’t stand for tea.
It
stands for THEORY.
Seokjin’s
« girlfriend » tragically dies in front of his own eyes.
It is all really similar to the original story of the smeraldo
flower. I don’t know if any of you heard of it but basically it’s
about a guy who hid himself in his castle because of his hideous
looking appearance. One day, a woman appeared in his garden, she took
a flower and left. It angered him in the beginning. The next day she
did the same, and the day after, and the day after that too. He
started becoming curious about the woman and began waiting for her
each day. He then learned that the girl was actually selling the
flowers to make a living. He desperately wanted to help her but he
couldn’t show himself, he was scared he’d terrify her. So he decided
to create a flower that doesn’t exist on this planet so the woman
could sell them at an expensive price. When he finally made the
flower he filled his garden with it. But the woman stopped coming. He
waited for her everyday but she never came. He eventually found out
that she had died.
Jin,
who didn’t love himself, decided to wait until he could buy the
smeraldo flower. An exceptional flower that would impress her.
Instead of meeting her with only his humble self. He didn’t have the
confidence. But in the end, it was all for nothing, because she died.
It’s
the same with his friends. Instead of being present and here for
them, he waited because he didn’t have confidence or felt like he
didn’t deserve their friendship. Which led to them getting into even
more troubles and feeling more lonely.
The camera Seokjin carries all the time
symbolizes his constant regret, his willingness to turn back time and
the fact that he doesn’t live in the present at all.
He wants to record the
innocence and genuine moments because it’s not something he’s often
exposed to in the world he lives in (higher social status, business
like relationships with everyone his family knows). He wants to keep
this forever. He keeps filming even during bad moments as if doesn’t
want to face reality and wants to make every moment good. His coping
mechanism is denial. But because of his denial, he alienates
himself from the others.
At
the end of the prologue, when Yoongi doesn’t appear next to him in
the Polaroid, it symbolizes how he’s slowly parting away from his
friends who are left alone.
In
the Highlight Reels, during the scene where Seokjin is choosing what
he’s going to wear to meet the girl, the date « 30 August »
appears on the screen. When he changes he accidentally knocks down a
vase of white lilies. White lilies symbolizes innocence and are often
use in funerals. The camera pans on the fallen lilies. It’s
foreshadowing the girl’s imminent death.
In
the notes Seokjin says that after seeing the girl died he thought
« If only I could turn back time ».
« IF »
so I don’t think he really does. Although I’m a fan of time traveling stories, I feel like all the « time traveling »
stuff we got were in Seokjin’s imagination.
Seokjin
becomes obsessed with the idea of turning back time and finding the
exact moment that triggered all the other bad events. He desperately
wants to find a cause, a reason to each of their suffering. This is
what the notes are in my opinion. It’s a collection of logs, events
and dates, and it’s like Seokjin is investigating through them to
find out what went wrong (so if he was giving the power to turn back
time he would go to that time in particular). He’s making up theories
(if I did that instead, this would’ve happened) and looking for
clues, just like us.
But
our pain in life doesn’t come from just one event. It’s a series of
happening, the way we perceive things, the way we grew up, our
environment, our personality, SO much things are involved that it’s
impossible to just go back to one point in life and fix the life of 7
different people at once.
This
is my interpretation on things of course and I think the message
they’re trying to convey is instead of regretting what happened in
the past and making up scenarios of « what would’ve been
better » like Jin did, we should own up to our mistakes and
accept ourselves. Like he does in the intro Epiphany. The lyrics are
saying that he should love himself and that he’s perfectly imperfect.
In
the last scene of the Highlight Reels, it looks like he goes back to
the time he was choosing his clothes for his date. However this time
he decides not to go on the date so instead of wearing his suit he
wears a cap and a t-shirt, but he looks extremely unhappy. That shows
that turning back time isn’t the solution and doesn’t equal
happiness. The words Seokjin narrates just before this scene are « If
we could turn back the clock, where should we go back to ? Once
we reached that place, can all our mistakes and errors be undone ?
Will happiness be ours to stay? ». The answer is in the next
scene. By seeing Seokjin’s expression, it’s obviously no. Turning
back the clock won’t give you happiness.
In
the Euphoria video which represents their ultimate « happy
ending » and the goal they’re working for, Seokjin who had his
curtains closed because he didn’t want to see the truth and face
reality, finally decides to open them.
He witnesses that the world is
burning outside of the safe cage made for himself. He’s scared at
first, but then he smiles.
He’s
freeing himself from the prison he created, he’s no longer trapped in
his denial. And at the end of the video, he throws the camera into
the water. He’ll no longer live in regret and chooses to finally
start living in the present.
– END
PS: Thank you for reading until the end I’m eternally grateful! I’m SO excited for the comeback!!! I heard they’ll be new hyyh notes so I can’t wait to add them to my chronological list hehe
@paticle 